My gran found love aged 86 ...so I am not in any hurry
Corrie’s Claire on beating menopause fears
Nicola, left, & Laura with Claire
SINGLETON Claire Sweeney admits she has put dating on the back burner – but says she is not ruling out finding love when older and greyer.
The 52-year-old Coronation Street and Dancing on Ice star, whose last date was just before Christmas, says she does not need a man right now.
But the hopeful romantic confesses she has not given up on finding love altogether.
Drawing inspiration from her grandma, who met “the love of her life” at 86, Claire says: “If I have to wait that long, then so be it!”
Claire, mum to son Jaxon, nine, told our Invite Only podcast: “I’m not dating at the moment, no. I mean, I’m so fulfilled and it’s so exciting what I’m doing.
“I get all the love I want off my son, all the attention I want at work, and I’m financially secure. So at the moment, I’m not searching. I’ve always been very self-sufficient.
I’m not someone who needs to have a boyfriend.
“And, look, my grandma met the love of her life when she was 86 – he was her 74-yearold toyboy.
“She married him and at her 100th birthday she said, ‘This man’s kept me alive with love and laughter.’ They laughed every day.
“And I thought, if I have to wait that long to meet the right person, and make the right choice, so be it.”
Claire, who found fame in the 90s as Lindsey Corkhill in Brookside, admits going through the perimenopause has dented her confidence.
But she reveals she has the backing of a female gang of superwomen who are also in their 50s – adding that pal Carol Vorderman, 63, a fellow Loose Women panellist, has been a huge support.
Claire says: “I never used to worry this much, like 10, 15 years ago, and I think it’s definitely a menopause thing.
“You’ve seen your body change in front of your own eyes very quickly, things getting wider.
“Me and my best mate, who came to stay with me two nights ago, we were both in the mirror Sunday morning thinking, ‘S***. Look at our waists. How did this happen?’ You see your body change and you get fearful.
“You get more frightened of things. Doing Dancing on Ice this year was terrifying, but I went out there and gave it a go. And I’ve had with Carol Vorderman and Lisa Maxwell on Loose Women lots of supportive messages. Carol Vorderman has been amazing, and Vanessa Feltz. These women are great. I find Carol really inspirational because she’s fearless.
“We’ve been friends for years and she’s fantastic and beautiful – she’s a real girl’s girl.”
Claire, who joined Coronation Street as Cassandra Plummer last year, was also supported on Dancing on Ice by her friends on the ITV soap – although she admits to being worried when their first reactions were: “You’re brave.”
She has really gelled with the Corrie cast, especially Maureen Lipman, who she once travelled to the studio with on a day she was not shooting just so she could soak up
As Cassandra in Corrie her expertise. And she confesses that she loves the show so much she was determined not to let some early criticism from trolls drag her down.
Claire and Dancing on Ice partner Colin Grafton were third to be eliminated, after she suffered injuries.
But before that, on signing up for the contest, she sought advice from former Emmerdale and Corrie star Hayley Tamaddon, who won in 2010.
She said:
“I
With pro partner Colin in Dancing on Ice messaged her and said, ‘I’m scared, Hayley’. And she knows me as being a bit feisty. So she gave me this chant, which is, ‘I am fabulous. I am strong. I am fabulous. I am able. I am strong. I am fabulous. I am able.’ “She said, ‘Think it and then say it three times.’
“So I’m on the show, dressed as Cruella de Vil, and I’m thinking that. And it calmed me down a little bit just to be repeating it. “I thought, ‘Do you know what, I don’t know about the fabulous bit, but I am strong. And I have been practising. I can have a go.’ “You’ve got to believe in yourself, haven’t you?” news@irishmirror.ie